Medical and industrial developments have created a growing need for detecting and analyzing air bubble and/or particles in a flowing liquid. Industrial applications include products such as engine oil and hydraulic fluids where particle contamination can deteriorate performance. In the medical field, detection of air emboli in blood during kidney dialysis or heart-lung transplant surgery is a function that is necessary to accomplish.
Accordingly, a need exists to provide a system that is able to detect air bubbles and/or particles present in a liquid stream. It is also desirable that such a system be as simple and inexpensive as possible.